Aug 27 2012.
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Senses but no souls at the CMF 2012
Despite all the hype and hullabaloo surrounding it, Senses and Soul Colombo Music Festival 2012 took the word “flop” to a whole new level.
Events being cancelled last minute, locations being shifted and people not knowing about any of it, turned what was supposed to be a good weekend into nothing short of a complete atrocity!
With tickets priced so exorbitantly, it was no doubt that people didn't turn up. Many people were left wondering how organizers would cover the cost of such a huge event.
On Friday evening Waters Edge was empty with only volunteers and about 15 other people at the open air event. Prince Leone, Dawn Jay, Arjun and many other talented local artistes performed which was a shame because performance wise, the artistes gave it their all and the organizers had done quite a good job of putting it together (Sounds and lights).
The choral concert also had some excellent performaces by The old Joes Choir, Voice Print, The Revelations, Evolution and many others.
However on a closing note the organizers most certainly have their work cut out for them if they are to make the Colombo Music Festival an annual event.
Review by Reihan Stephen
Jazz at the Mews
The most soothing effects that emanate from the tunes of jazz music was on showcase at the Park Street Mews on Saturday 25 August in view of an enthusiastic audience who braved the rainy weather as Pippa Wilson, the Australian based queen of jazz accompanied by her Swintet, gave one of the most memorable performances at the Colombo Music Festival.
Pippa captivated the gathered audience with the rare vocal quality characteristic of a performer who demands the full attention of her listeners. The ambience of the night at the Mews contributed largely to what was perhaps one of the most successful items to see the light at Colombo Music Festival.
The effortless grace and unwavering charisma that was a denotation of the performer's calibre wooed audiences who were clearly strong jazz music lovers. Pippa was featured on the CMF website as having seduced audiences across the globe in a variety of platforms.
Her profile quotes it the best "As a performer, Ms. Wilson comes on like champagne cut with bitters, as she effortlessly enchants all kinds of audiences with her vitality and warmth. When Pippa Wilson sings, audiences are swung and love it".
The gathered audience made an immense contribution to the event's success consisting of a wide age range united by their evident love for jazz music. Attention was completely paid and the pin drop silence at the Mews attested the success of the event, a rare sight at the Colombo Music Festival.
The rain if at all complimented the soothing ambiance sealing the Mews in a private haven made exclusive for the audience and the performers. Dim lights and friendly staff alongside a succulent menu of tantalizing cuisine sealed the night's brilliance reminiscent of a cozy French deli, a welcome getaway from the city stress on a Saturday night.
The entire audience remained at their seats throughout the entire performance and hung around long after to engage each other in a pleasantly dazed mood. The event was a reflection of the potential that the Colombo Music Festival packed within its parameters had it been executed efficiently.
Pippa and the Swintet concluded on one of the most positive notes to a standing ovation and left the gathered music lovers a memorable touch of Jazz music, which will remain, etched in their memories. Kudos to the organizers and Pippa for possibly one of the best fringe events of the Colombo Music Festival.
Review by Dilshan Senaratne
Pics by Kassapa Jayasinghe
“Rock-a-fest” at Colombo Music Festival
“If it’s too loud, you’re too old” was the general attitude at British School Auditorium over the weekend when Colombo Music Festival brought to life one of its many splendours in the form of “Rock-a-fest”, a touch of local authenticity to a genre of music that took the world by storm since its inception.
The segment was divided over the weekend in two parts and saw a concise lineup of local rock bands on a stage that, if it had been executed well, would’ve been the platform for local rock music to see the international limelight.
The rain ridden misfortunes of the Colombo Music Festival graced Rockafest too and were one of the minute details which contributed to the atrocity that was ill attended and ill organized to put it mildly.
The tone of the event was set at the word go when Riviera; one of the very few noteworthy performers of the night, took a false start due to a badly balanced sound setup. The error in balancing the vocals itself isn’t that big a blunder had the show not started two hours later than the scheduled time due to an extended sound check which clearly had no fruits to bear.
Riviera performed their version of “Nothing but a Hound Dog” in what was a display of well rehearsed vocals, an impressive drop of rain in an otherwise barren desert. Heavy Metal being the acquired taste sounds especially disastrous in an empty hall where the audience was outnumbered by the media personnel and organizers.
Keeping with the opening statement should I have been too old to find any aesthetic pleasure in the music that was performed on Day 1 at just 21 years of age, I believe the rock bands are catering to a fairly small niche of juvenile music lovers; testament of which was the empty auditorium.
“Stigmata” the metal gurus of the local industry defended their title as one of the very few remarkable metal bands in the country and performed at a class that was above all others in the genre.
Day 2 of Rock-a-fest opened just as late as the previous day and surprisingly was attended by fewer than the previous day, a shame considering that out of the two days the second qualified as the lesser of two evils.
One of the big names in the lineup “Magic Box Mixup” had pulled out last minute and was replaced by another metal band, sealing the concert’s fate as an empty house and an almost exclusively metal gig. Ironically the one exception of the genre was “Salvage” but failed in salvaging the drowning show whose misery was added to by the torrents that cried down on Colombo at regular intervals.
The highlighting grace however came in the form of Shehara Jayatilaka, a truly remarkable young vocalist accompanied by Tennyson Napoleon the renowned guitarist of “Stigmata”. The duo dug out a half buried concert with their blatantly passionate performances alongside Shehara’s easygoing charisma and receptivity to the audience which clearly shone through.
Had the casket been dug out it was firmly nailed shut by the band that followed who managed to break the bass drum in true blue metal fashion halting the show in its track and offering many of the audience a convenient getaway.
The show resumed almost an hour later with “Tantrum” taking the stage. Javeen Soysa of “Tantrum” put on a good show for a half empty hall but deserved a better audience.
All in all the event was one of the least successful and goes to show that the genre requires more attention if it’s ever to come out of its shell of mediocrity. A point to ponder is that metal isn’t necessarily the only form of rock music and from the looks of it is one of the least successful in the county.
The organizers should have paid more attention to the lineup since the concert was titled “Rock-a-fest” and not “Metal Fest”.
Review by Dilshan Senaratne
Pics by Pradeep Dilrukshana
0 Comments
TheGrandConjuration says:
Aug 27, 2012 at 06:46 pmI pity you Sir, mainly for the way you handled the section on the rock fest. You sound like such a philistine. Especially with comments like this "I believe the rock bands are catering to a fairly small niche of juvenile music lovers; testament of which was the empty auditorium."
I pity that.
Indeed metal is an acquired taste...and THANK GOD FOR THAT!
Tia says:
Aug 27, 2012 at 07:11 pmSorry. Their God voice and the helicoptors were booked for the day.
Re: Rock a Fest
The Magic Box Mix up drummer got dengue and had to pull out last minute.
You just dissed Billy Fernando, but I'm sure you have more experience running a Festival than any of the organisers.
The late start - Don't you think it's fair that if a band was called there last minute, that they get a sound check too?
This was just the entertainment we needed to k
SunnyBoy says:
Aug 28, 2012 at 03:29 amthis is what happens when the wrong people handle events with their head in the clouds.
Kalinga says:
Aug 28, 2012 at 04:56 amAny moron who wasn't too busy trying to break his neck would like the author have noticed how badly organized the show was.
Archana says:
Aug 28, 2012 at 05:04 amThe Magic Box Mixup drummer was at Dutch Hospital with the rest of the band thanking their lucky stars for not having played at that fail
Dilshan says:
Aug 28, 2012 at 05:05 amDidn't see Billy on the second day :)
Annonymous says:
Aug 28, 2012 at 05:11 amsuch a waste of money and tyme sri lankan metal is good if you havent hear proper metal
Zeyana says:
Aug 28, 2012 at 05:15 amfrog legs are an acquired taste too but there's nothing good about them
Stephie says:
Aug 28, 2012 at 05:59 amWell yes it was a badly organized event... But I think the writers need to look into exactly what happened before they go berserk and write lengthy reviews. Where Rock a fest was concerned, Everyone who had anything to do with the event tried their darndest to make the best of a really horrible situation. In my opinion, the sound on day 2 of Rock a Fest was far superior to that of day 1, with at least a more receptive engineer than the 1st one. Sri Lankans will always be a bunch of untalented gr
Stephie says:
Aug 28, 2012 at 06:02 amAlso if Magic Box Mixup had to lie to get out of their performance at Rock a Fest, it looks bad on the band and not the organizers. If I were to organize a gig I would not book them if they're are a group of individuals with no integrity. Their word counts for nada
Dushan Vas says:
Aug 28, 2012 at 06:18 amDaily Mirror is one of the Print Media Partners of this Event and In that case, Daily Mirror also should take the responsibility of all these blames... This is a brand new concept to Sri Lanka.... There is a distinct difference between a mere Concert and a mega festival... As it is brand new, there can be some hiccups up front... Even people blamed the opening ceremony of Olympics 2012 being mediocre... Now it is responsibility of everyone involved to take all these comments from a positive angl
Wiren P says:
Aug 28, 2012 at 06:21 amCompletely agree with this article. I witnessed during the entire event from start to conclusion the favorations done on some of the contestants, where organizers themselves pushed their own students or favorites.
I was not a contestant but a music lover who followed the event. It is a disgrace to the families of renowned musical personalities of the country who were part of the organizing committee, to have behaved in this manner and put up a very biased show just for their benefits and m
Destroyer 666 says:
Aug 28, 2012 at 06:51 amO.o ? dude we srilankans are doing the best to keep the metal scene live !! get that to your nutshell.... do not insult the scene in SL if you have no idea about metal music don't talk about it even !!!
Destroyer 666 says:
Aug 28, 2012 at 07:40 amMagic Box Mixup is a disgrace the whole music scene to lie and not attend the fest.that clearly states that they aren't musicians but just there for the fame.. its just pathetic that such bands still exists..
Stephie says:
Aug 28, 2012 at 09:36 amHey Wiren... What on earth is this competition you speak of? the Spirit competition was only a very small part of the festival as a whole. The festival consisted of extremely talented professional and semi professional musicians who have been doing what they do despite the fact that they have to perform for a few idiots like you in the audience. The favoritism you speak of is probably in own head coz all competitors were extremely talented. you just sound like a sore loser.
darockson says:
Aug 28, 2012 at 10:06 amRe: Rock-A-Fest
I have always wanted a review, and by the looks this particular review R.A.G.E SUCKED BIG TIME. Yes, we all know there were major complication regarding the overall organizing of the event, but more than anyone else it was the musicians who felt it the most.
I will humbly accept any criticism about our music, if he has any to offer that is, but not some rant about what he thinks of Heavy Metal and its faithful followers. \m/ Keep it real, keep it heavy \m/
TheGrandConjuration says:
Aug 28, 2012 at 10:23 amYou clearly haven't understood the point of the term 'an acquired taste' now have you...
Heir Apparent says:
Aug 28, 2012 at 10:38 amDear mislead writer,
You clearly have never set foot into a metal gig anywhere in the world before. You also sound like you wouldn't know good music if it slapped you across the face and introduced itself. Which is quite a questionable situation because you've been asked to write about a music festival.
But come to think of it, it makes sense seeing as you have dedicated your article to bashing the organizing rather than the any insight on the music itself.
Also get your facts str
thushara kulatunga says:
Aug 28, 2012 at 10:58 amand if the writer thinks that the highlight of the day two was shehara (no offence to her) he clearly did not see paranoid earthling...and you clearly have no knowledge on this subject...it was definitely poorly organized and definitely only a few artists did something noteworthy however...
Wiren P says:
Aug 28, 2012 at 11:31 amI only made a comment on what I witnessed. I completely agree with you that the performers were talented. Absolutely no doubt about that. But if you followed the preliminary rounds you probably would agree with me that the selections could have been better.
I witnessed and also heard that some performers were not allowed to choose their songs, but were forced to sing certain songs as per the choices of the organizers. I'm sorry but I am a believer of free will and especially when it comes
MagD says:
Aug 28, 2012 at 11:55 amUtter failure. Such a waste of money. Nothing but the disappointment left after the concert. I think only the Volunteers had a good time there.
SH says:
Aug 28, 2012 at 12:35 pmI agree this event was a lesson in how not to organise an event. But to slag a genre that has outlived most others, with more 'rock' in it than most so called 'rock' acts, is just plain ignorant. So is calling rock/metal fans juvenile and the genre mediocre. If anything is juvenile and mediocre it’s this so called ‘review’; proof that music scribes here are a bunch of unenlightened amateurs with the knowledge and writing skills of a circus chimp. I suggest the writer do some research instead of
Demi says:
Aug 28, 2012 at 03:27 pmAlso for all you "metal heads" there's more comments here than there were metal heads there, so where were all these loyal fans? didn't see anyone there representing this hardcore genre of yours.
Aki says:
Aug 28, 2012 at 03:34 pmNot to burst everyone's bubble but the "author" all of you are dissing happened to have been the organizer of two very successful metal gigs back in 2009 and 2010. Also (wait for it) wrote songs for hollow point and Axis(Australia) two very good rock bands. Google him.
sf says:
Aug 28, 2012 at 05:17 pmIs this article some sort of a joke? I was there on friday and the concert was far from being empty and almost all the bands gave their hearts out to what they were doing. The sounds were great though there were a few glitches here and there and R.A.G.E seeing them for the first time totally blew my mind for their tightness and professionalism and sure we have hope :)
Stephen Reviwer says:
Aug 28, 2012 at 05:21 pmSORRY to say it was a sad Sunday event at Waters-edge.Pipa Wilson was good in her efforts trying to promote her substandard band as a set of maestros.She did sing well & the sax player was OK.......!Well as a American who live in this country I heard much better musician In & out.Opening set performed by In Focus & Tanaka wa thw best Acts on this night & partial reviewers do not even talk bout it.SORRY!!
DD says:
Aug 29, 2012 at 03:54 amyou must be quite the reviewer considering you spell reviewer as reviwer
Competitor says:
Aug 29, 2012 at 07:01 amI was a competitor and I faced the exact scenario you speak of. Was coaxed in to singing a song which doesn't highlight my strengths and gives my competition a free pass.
Anyway let's hope there is a more independent approach next time and there is more participation from contestants in other musical schools as well, as focus was only on students from one school. The competition has a lot of potential. It is a pity that this round of judges got to see only such a tiny portion of Sri L
Lols says:
Aug 29, 2012 at 07:46 amMetal is indeed an acquired taste. Acquired by a fairly small niche of juvenile music lovers.
ADK says:
Aug 29, 2012 at 12:48 pmAll we as Metal Heads have to say is that this slamming on a epidemic type genre goes to show that Metal is growing like wildfire and every one who's left behind are the ones tryna stop it!! This is clear evidence of the lack of brains and the immaturity of the author, who happens to be one who doesnt know a peanuts worth about Rock or Metal in SL!! Who im SURE has stepped out of the metal scene ever since he got kicked out of one for being so arrogant and idiotic!!
As proven, Metal f
Rick says:
Aug 29, 2012 at 03:34 pmWhat have we here? A pseudo-bruised musician? Advocate of revolution? Does it calm your ego to label every critic a musical dud? I can't validate the review's claims myself not having been there, but I am revolted at the attitude of comments disagreeing with the writer. He hasn't stolen your art (you do at the very least play the high gain axe don't you sir?) he's just proclaimed it a lost cause. I see several relevant observations. What is moot is humility in you iron heads, An almost cultist r
I.T.U says:
Aug 29, 2012 at 04:30 pmYeah he refused to play to an empty golf course! Pity..
David says:
Aug 29, 2012 at 05:48 pmSays who? Anonymous?
David says:
Aug 29, 2012 at 05:53 pmyou're talking about the competition. This article is talking about the Rock night.
David says:
Aug 29, 2012 at 06:02 pmYou got the wrong dilshan bubble brain
Metal head says:
Aug 29, 2012 at 06:52 pmAll that this article did was waste my time reading it. The writer is obviously some ignorant person that has no clue in music or writing unbiased articles, who also thought sharing his two cents worth opinions would be taken seriously. People that have actually taken this article seriously need to be thrown into jail for being retarded. Why on earth did all you people who hate metal so much turn up for a metal gig in the first place? Didn't you see the posters - the bands that were lined up for
CFH says:
Aug 30, 2012 at 09:04 amAs an attendee of the rock a fest on both days and a long time metal fan, I agree with you that only a few juvenile fan boys would have got their money’s worth but statements like” Riviera; one of the very few noteworthy performers” and “The highlighting grace however came in the form of Shehara Jayatilaka” makes me question whether you were qualified to review this concert. The only bands that impressed me with their musicianship and professionalism were Rage, Tantrum and the Earthlings.
Stephie says:
Aug 30, 2012 at 09:28 am@David... Hahahahahaaa... Good one sir. LOL
Stephie says:
Aug 30, 2012 at 09:33 amDear I.T.U
You're not the smartest are you?? Billy didn't play at Rock a Fest. He was sound engineer on the 1st day. The reason he didn't turn up to do sound on day 2 of Rock a Fest was because he actually WAS playing "to an empty golf course".
Tia says:
Sep 11, 2012 at 03:13 pmLol. That was uh... embarrassing.